Yummy Dinner with Eastern Friends
I found out this week that homemade mac and cheese is white people's food. Never really thought about it- but I guess it is one of those truly Canadian/American dishes. So, here is my recipe, the one I made for friends. This couple was visiting from Moncton NB, though he grew up here. He is Vietnamese and Cambodian and has never ever had homemade mac and cheese before today! I thought I would share my own recipe. I will add vegetables to this as well, broccoli or cauliflower are nice additions! It is a good vegetarian choice and so very creamy- Mac and Cheese with a twist!
For 6-8 people
Cook up 6 cups of pasta (whichever shape you wish). Drain it well.
Prepare:
1/2 c butter-melt over high and add 1/2 c flour, stir to a smooth paste.
Add 3 c milk, 1 c chicken stock, keep stirring until it is smooth and starts to thicken.
Add 250 g cream cheese, broken into pieces. Stir until smooth.
Add 1 Tb mustard, stirring. Add 2 c grated cheddar, 1 c. grated cheddar/monterey jack blend. Stir until it is all melted and smooth.
In a greased casserole dish (3 or 4 litre) pour the pasta then pour the cheese sauce over top and stir well. OPT: Pour 2 c shredded cheddar over the top.
This next topping is WAY better than plain cheddar- If you want to try it, the Ritz cracker topping is like this:
20 Ritz crackers, crumbled well.
Add 1/4 c. melted butter.
Add 1/2 c. parmesan cheese and 1 c shredded cheddar. Sprinkle these over the top of the casserole.This is instead of the plain cheddar on top. Cook covered at 350F for 1 1/2 hours, then take the lid off for the last half hour, so the topping can get nice and crunchy!!
Cheers :)
You know, I love to cook, but even more and I have said it before, I like to feed people. Seems to me like meeting someone's basic needs somehow, providing comfort. Food, eating together, sharing over a meal is an opportunity to be at the same place at the same time--and do we ever find it easy to share our souls that way too! We all need to eat, why not do it together? Sharing food in community, hearts in community, even preparation and clean up makes it all just so much easier.
I used to do the food services at a camp we worked at. Nothing I liked better than cooking for a weekend retreat! I would pop my baby-girl into a snuggly or a sling and work away, preparing as much as I could ahead of the weekend. We had a young man who was finished college and not sure where he was headed after the camp season who asked if he could stay on. Said he liked to clean up after me! We said sure and the two of us had a nice working partnership! That man is now a pastor in Ontario--I wonder if he likes clean up so much these days? I guess I would have to ask his wife!
Food, sustenance of life, feeding so much more than just the body! I am feeling as though, with this visit, that my spirit has also been fed and I am so very grateful!
For 6-8 people
Cook up 6 cups of pasta (whichever shape you wish). Drain it well.
Prepare:
1/2 c butter-melt over high and add 1/2 c flour, stir to a smooth paste.
Add 3 c milk, 1 c chicken stock, keep stirring until it is smooth and starts to thicken.
Add 250 g cream cheese, broken into pieces. Stir until smooth.
Add 1 Tb mustard, stirring. Add 2 c grated cheddar, 1 c. grated cheddar/monterey jack blend. Stir until it is all melted and smooth.
In a greased casserole dish (3 or 4 litre) pour the pasta then pour the cheese sauce over top and stir well. OPT: Pour 2 c shredded cheddar over the top.
This next topping is WAY better than plain cheddar- If you want to try it, the Ritz cracker topping is like this:
20 Ritz crackers, crumbled well.
Add 1/4 c. melted butter.
Add 1/2 c. parmesan cheese and 1 c shredded cheddar. Sprinkle these over the top of the casserole.This is instead of the plain cheddar on top. Cook covered at 350F for 1 1/2 hours, then take the lid off for the last half hour, so the topping can get nice and crunchy!!
Cheers :)
You know, I love to cook, but even more and I have said it before, I like to feed people. Seems to me like meeting someone's basic needs somehow, providing comfort. Food, eating together, sharing over a meal is an opportunity to be at the same place at the same time--and do we ever find it easy to share our souls that way too! We all need to eat, why not do it together? Sharing food in community, hearts in community, even preparation and clean up makes it all just so much easier.
I used to do the food services at a camp we worked at. Nothing I liked better than cooking for a weekend retreat! I would pop my baby-girl into a snuggly or a sling and work away, preparing as much as I could ahead of the weekend. We had a young man who was finished college and not sure where he was headed after the camp season who asked if he could stay on. Said he liked to clean up after me! We said sure and the two of us had a nice working partnership! That man is now a pastor in Ontario--I wonder if he likes clean up so much these days? I guess I would have to ask his wife!
Food, sustenance of life, feeding so much more than just the body! I am feeling as though, with this visit, that my spirit has also been fed and I am so very grateful!
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